Source: iPhone “SDK” will remain web-based for the foreseeable future

Apple is planning to add a number of features to its mobile Safari that will …

Apple is working on solutions that will help developers get more face time on the iPhone, but there are currently no plans to offer a "true" iPhone SDK that would allow developers to create native apps, a source at Apple has told Ars.

The company is currently planning a handful of updates to Safari and the iPhone that may appease some of the common complaints about developing for the device. For example, Apple is currently jamming on adding offline storage capabilities to Safari—something that would rival Google Gears in being able to serve up web applications locally without having to access the Internet. Our source says that the project is entirely for the iPhone: "The entire purpose of all this work is to make the iPhone 'SDK' (WebKit) more usable," our source told us. Because of this, the SDK will remain web-based, he said, with the applications remaining constrained to HTML, CSS, and a nice splash of lemon-scented AJAX.

That said, our source also believes there may be other goodies up Apple's sleeve. Apple may offer more local JavaScript access to useful iPhone functionalities, and developers might eventually also be able to create home screen icons that will point to their (presumably) offline web apps. Apple is currently aiming for an unspecified "January" deadline on these updates, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it will likely be announced at Macworld 2008.

All of this goes contrary to the long-held belief of many third-party developers, who have been praying to the Apple deities since day one that they'll have deeper access to the iPhone than a browser window. The news does, however, fall in line with information that we reported on last June from a different Apple insider, who said that he personally believed that there may never be a native SDK for the iPhone.

Given recent (non)developments in the hacking world when it comes to the new iPhone firmware and the iPod touch, things aren't exactly looking rosy for eager devs. Offline storage with the possibility of (Apple-sanctioned) home screen icons are certainly a major step forward, but it has its obvious limitations to the Web 2.0 world. "You can't write [bleep]ing [bleep] in that," says our source. Needless to say, even Apple insiders are not thrilled.

Our current source doesn't have any information on why Apple has chosen to continue to block out developers, but does have one theory. "Jobs is a control freak and doesn't want people messing with perfection." That's what we think here at Ars, too. Whelp, better get brushed up on those iPhone Human Interface Guidelines.